It was late one Saturday night. Both Todd and Madeline were asleep in bed when they were awakened by a pounding on the front door.
Todd rolled over and picked up his head. “Who the hell is that?” Irritated, he got up and walked to the door.
“Todd, wait…” said Madeline. She had a bad feeling that something was wrong.
Todd swung open the door to see a dark haired man covered in tattoos standing on the porch. The man pushed Todd out of the way and forced himself into the house.
“Where is she!” The man yelled.



Todd was angry and frightened. Who was this crazy creep? He grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him back.
“I don’t think so, dude. Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”
The man turned around and got in Todd’s face. “Stay out of my way, punk! I’m here for my wife.” He yelled as he pushed Todd violently against the wall. Todd hit his head and fell on the floor, dazed.



Madeline heard the commotion coming from the kitchen. As she was getting up, the man stormed into the bedroom.
“There you are you little bitch!” He yelled.
Madeline looked like she’d seen a ghost. She was paralyzed with fear. “oh my God… Peter! How did you… who told you…” she said in a weak voice.
“It doesn’t matter how I found you! What matters is that you’re coming back with me!” He grabbed her by the arm. “No!” She screamed. He pulled her nightshirt and a button fell off. He stopped and looked down at her pregnant belly, his eyes filled with anger. “Well, looks like you’ve been busy you little whore!” He screamed. When she tried to pull away, he raised his arm and backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the floor.



Todd ran into the room just in time to see a pregnant Madeline slapped to the floor like she was nothing. He felt rage rip through his entire body. Without saying a word, he attacked Peter, punching him fist over fist without letting up. Madeline got to her feet and ran to call the police. Todd kept hitting Peter over and over until blood was pouring out of his face. Madeline came back into the room. Todd had his hands around Peter’s neck, choking him. “Todd no!” She screamed.



Just then she saw Peter reaching with a bloody hand for something in his back pocket. He pulled out a knife. Before she had time to think, she grabbed the closest thing she could reach-the solid porcelain vase-and smashed it over Peter’s head.
Todd took his hands off Peter’s neck. “Oh my God.” He said. Madeline just stood there with no expression on her face. Todd put his fingers on Peter’s pulse. “He’s dead.” he said. He stood up and looked at Madeline. They heard the police sirens outside the house. “My God, Madeline. What do we do now?” He looked out the window and started to panic. Madeline just looked up and him and calmly whispered “my hand is on your shoulder, Todd.”



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When the police came in it was like a whirlwind of events. It all happened so fast, he couldn’t believe what was going on around him. The police were taking photos, talking to one another, and asking lots of questions. Self defense, they said. Neither he nor Madeline would go to jail. They finally rolled Peter out of the house on a stretcher, his body covered with a white sheet. Todd looked up at Madeline and her bruised face. There was no fear or sadness in her expression, only relief. Todd watched her as her eyes followed them taking Peter away from the trailer. She won’t ever have to be scared again, he thought.